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Julie Pace and Ken Thomas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton will end months of speculation about her political future and launch her long-awaited 2016 presidential campaign on Sunday, according to people familiar with her plans.

The first official word that Clinton will seek the Democratic Party's nomination will come via an online video posted on social media. She'll then make stops in key early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, where she'll hold small events with voters.

WASHINGTON | Rather than keeping him at arm's length, Hillary Rodham Clinton is embracing President Barack Obama — sometimes even literally.

Clinton had been expected to look for some ways to separate herself from the president to avoid the impression that having her in the White House would amount to a third Obama term. But as she prepares for another presidential campaign, Clinton has aligned herself with Obama far more often than not.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — President Barack Obama, appealing to students who powered his first White House run, swooped onto college campuses Tuesday to remind those returning to class that they hold a unique power to determine the election.

"I just want all of you to understand your power. Don't give it away — not when you're young," Obama told about 13,000 people gathered on the campus of Colorado State University. "Right now, America is counting on you. And I'm counting on you."

STAMFORD, Conn. — Can President Barack Obama raise the money he needs to hold onto the White House?

Money wasn't supposed to be a worry for the president's campaign, which smashed fundraising records in 2008. But Mitt Romney's team has hauled in more than Obama and his allies for a third straight month, raising the once-unthinkable question.

While the race for voter support is tight, according to polls, Romney's robust fundraising and a crush of money from Republican-leaning political action committees have forced the president's campaign to spend heavily through the summer.

JAMESTOWN, N.C. — Three years after his surprising wins in Southern states, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is doubling down in the region, hoping to turn changing demographics into electoral wins and offset potential losses in traditional swing states next year.

Obama’s Southern strategy is at the heart of his three-day bus trip this week through North Carolina and Virginia. In 2008 he became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in those Republican strongholds in a generation.